Significance of Bound Water Measurement

Abstract

Water can be classified differently on the basis of their surrounding environment and bonding attributes. Both free and bound water contributes in the changes during their removal from food materials. Different amount of energy and time is required to remove specific type of water. For example, bound water needs more energy and time in order to migrate from food materials. Similarly, higher cost and quality changes are associated with the removal of bound water at different food processing. However, a critical moisture content should be precisely maintained for prolonged shelf life as well as to keep maintaining expected texture, softness, crispness of foods during dehydration. In this chapter, the significance of the bound water removal from food has been critically discussed.

A. Migliori, J.D. Maynard, Implementation of a modern resonant ultrasound spectroscopy system for the measurement of the elastic moduli of small solid specimens. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76(12), 121301 (2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar